Rhik Samadder tries … backflipping: ‘My shorts are too tight – being upside down doesn’t help’

Inspired by a YouTube video and high on a dose of Olympic spirit, this week the activity is gymnastic. But will the results be fantastic?

I once saw an inspirational video of a man teaching himself to backflip in a park, with a mattress behind to break his fall. He got closer and closer, but kept landing on his knees. The breakthrough moment came when he realised the 20cm mattress was taking up space. The cushion that kept him safe was also keeping him from his dream. He removed it and completed the flip. I wept. It's not about jumping, OK? It's profoundly existential.

The jumping did suggest an urgent question, though: could I do a backflip? Do you have to be Superman, or one of seven lords-a-leaping? I never dared to learn. The optics of dragging a mattress into a park - especially when some people are already confused about how you earn a living - are not good. Yet, with Olympic spirit still hanging in the air, the timing is right.